1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to a jack assembly having dual-beam bifurcated contacts.
2. Background Art
In the telecommunications industry (including, for example, telephone, television broadcast, high-definition television and video, and serial data interface (SDI)), a jack assembly is used to connect two signal lines and to facilitate rerouting of the lines, if necessary. For example, FIG. 1 shows a typical patch jack assembly 100 including a housing or jack body 101, having a pair of parallel, substantially cylindrical, central conductors 102A and 102B, running therethrough. Each central conductor 102A, 102B runs from a front port 104, 106 at a front end 108 of the housing 101 to a rear port 110, 112 at a rear end 114 of the housing 101. The front ports 104, 106 are typically configured as WECo (Western Electric Company) or mini-WECo jacks, while the rear ports 110, 112 are typically configured as BNC or mini-BNC format jacks.
The rear ports 110, 112 are generally configured to receive the lines for which connection is desired. A spring arrangement 120 within the housing 101 provides a normally closed connection between the central conductors 102A, 102B. Thus, the lines connected to the rear ports 110, 112 of the patch jack assembly 100 will be electrically connected by the spring arrangement 120 in the housing 101.
A typical configuration of the spring arrangement 120 is a wishbone-shaped spring, such as spring 301 shown in FIG. 3, having a central portion 303 and two spring arms 305A, 305B. The central portion 303 is mounted to, but electrically isolated from, housing 101 by coupling device 122. A distal end of each spring arm 305A, 305B is configured to contact an adjacent central conductor 102A, 102B. The distal ends are held against the central conductor 102A, 102B by the restorative force of the spring. This configuration provides a conductive path between the two central conductors 102A, 102B to form the normally closed connection.
Each arm 305A, 305B has a non-conductive actuator 124 (not shown in FIG. 3) attached to it. A plug inserted into one of the front ports 104, 106 of the housing 101 will engage the actuator 124 and push the spring arm 305A, 305B away from the central conductor 102A, 102B (against the restorative force of the spring arm) causing the electrical connection to be broken. In a terminated variant, the spring arm 305A, 305B is pushed into contact with a ground post, or termination resistor 126, causing the opposite central conductor to be electrically connected to ground through the termination resistor. In a non-terminated variant, the spring arm 305A, 305B is pushed away from the central conductor 102A, 102B, but remains non-terminated or open-circuited.
Reliability of the connections made by the patch jack assembly 100 is important. However, a shortcoming of conventional patch jack assemblies is found in the spring assembly. As seen in the electrical contact pair 200 shown in FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B, the spring arms 305 of the spring 301 are typically thin and flat with a rectangular cross-section, while the central conductors 102 are typically cylindrical in shape. Because of these shapes, the resulting contact point 204 is often a single point or a narrow line. Dirt, dust, or other debris entering the housing 101 can get stuck between spring arm 305 and conductor 102, and make an intermittent or even cold (i.e., non-conducting) connection at point 204.
U.S. Patent Appl. Publication No. 2005/0148225 (i.e., U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/752,035, filed Jan. 7, 2004), the full disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference, discloses a V-notch actuator that attempts to solve the problems of convention actuators. There is still a need, however, for an actuator that produces an electrical connection that is more reliable and is less susceptible to failure.